Art of making and blocking muffs



(No Model.) I

J. A. SPITZER.

ART 015 MAKING ANDBLOGKING MUFFS. No. 342 049 Patented May 18 1886.

WITNESSES:

v f jliyENTOR liliurrn ral ATJENT l l ll'flht ART or MAKING AN D BLOCKING MUFIFS.

C CA I forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,049, dated May 18, 1886. Application filed October 28, 1885. Serial No. 181,127. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB AXANDER SPIT- ZER, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in the art of making muffs, and in muffs as articles of manufacture, intended to be carried or worn by ladies and children for the protection of their hands and wrists in cold weather, of which improvements the following is a specification.

In the art of muff -making as heretofore practiced the skin intended to be made into a mufl is cut to the required dimensions, usually a parallelogram about eighteen inches in length and about nine inches in width. It is then made into cylindrical form by sewing its opposite ends together, after which it is subjected to the process of blocking, which consists in drawing the cylinder of fur after the skin has been moistened over a cylinder of wood of about the same diameter, the fur side of the skin being next to the wooden cylinder, then bending the ends of the skin over andfastening them to the ends of the Wooden cylinder by tacks. The skin is then worked by hand and stretched, the tacks from time to time during the operation being drawn out and reinserted in the skin until the proper shape and form shall have been secured. The skin is then allowed to dry upon the cylindrical block, and then the seam where its ends have first been united is cut, and it is removed from the block. It is then resewed, stuffed, and lined, which completes the operation.

The process of blocking constitutes a trade in itself, and is one ofthe most difficult branches of muff-making; and muffs as heretofore constructed by the most skilled operatives will be found upon examination to be rough and creased at their ends where the skin has been bent, and the ends of the muff permanently injured by the numerous holes in them caused by the tacks by which they have been fastened to the blocks. Naturally and unavoidably the muff, by reason of such creases and perforations, is not as symmetrical or as durable as it would be otherwise. Again, muffs as heretofore constructed afford only protection to the hands and not to the wrists of those who carry them. I

The object of my invention is so to construct a muff as to avoid and prevent the l creasing of its ends, to secure for it, conse- 1 quently, greater symmetry and permanence of form; to dispense with the use of tacks in the process of blocking, and thus avoid the injury to the skin consequent upon such use; to construct a muff that shall at the same time afford protection both to the hands and the wrists of the carrier of it, and to effect an economy in the making of the muff by dispensing with the skilled labor now required in the operation of blocking.

To this end my invention consists, first, in a novel manner of cutting or shaping the skin intended to be afterward made into a muff; sec- 0nd, in an improved method of stretching and blocking the skin; third, in an improved muff itself as an article of manufacture; and, fourth, in an improved blocking device, which last named feature of invention forms the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent of even date herewith, Serial No. 181,128, but will be sufficiently described herein to illustrate its operation, inasmuch as such device is specially adapted to the practice of the application.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents the skin out or shaped according to my improved method. Fig. 2 represents in perspective the skin after its different parts have been sewed together preparatory to being blocked. Fig.3 is a perspective View of the unfinished muff with the clampingplates and clamped end of the skin inserted in one end of the blockingcylinder. Fig.4 is the blockingeylinder in perspective with the key partially removed. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the skin after the blocking devices have been in serted in it and pressure applied to stretch the skin. Fig. 6 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the skin, blocking-cylinder, clampingplates, connecting-rod, and crank-lever after the skin has been stretched upon the cylinder. Fig. 7 represents the clamping-plates and connecting-rod. Fig. 8 represents in vertical section a blocking device having one of its sections flat or plane on its outward surface, with similar View of a surrounding muff, the latter having a pocket attached to its fiat or plane side. Fig. 9 is a view in perspective of .a finished muff, showing the extended ends or wristlcts.

invention forming the subject'matter of this The first step in my improved art consists in cutting or shaping the skin intended to be formed into a muff, and this I do by cutting it into the shape shown in Fig. 1, by which configuration two results are attained-to wit, first, providing a surface whereby the skin in the process of blocking may be clamped and stretched, such surface being the sewed ends a a a a,- and, second, said ends constitute the wristlets of the completed muff. After the skin shall have been cut or shaped, as described, its opposite ends, and the parts a an a, are sewed together, respectively, the result being a structure represented by Fig. 2.

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 represent a blockingcylinder designed especially for blocking muffs according to my improved method, the body of which is composed of a series of pieces (marked 1 2 3 4 5, respectively, in the drawings)-Which constitute the block proper. Circular clamping-plates 6 7 6'7, stem or rod 8, which is threaded at one of its ends, and threaded nut 9, and crank-lever 10, compose,

together, the remainder of the blocking device.

After the skin has been formed into the shape represented by Fig. 2 the parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are successively placed inside of the reversed skin in the manner and order shown in. Fig. 4, thus forming a'hollow cylinder the diameter of which corresponds to that of the surrounding skin, the part 5 acting as a key to hold the several parts of the cylinder in position. Next, the ends a a a a are respectively clamped between the respective clampingplates 67 6' 7, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Then the clampingplates and the clamped ends a a a a are inserted into the opposite ends of the hollow blockingcylinder. The rod 8, havinga fixed nut or abutment, 11, on one of its ends, is passed through the openings 12 of the clamping-plates and longitudinally through the center of the hollow cylindrical block, after which the threaded nut 9 is screwed down by crank-lever 10 upon the threaded end of rod 8 and upon the clamping-plate 6, thus drawing together and toward the center of the hollow blocking-cylinder the two pairs of clamping-plates 6 7 6 7, and the clamped ends of the skin to such extent as may be desired and asmay be necessary to effect the proper in length, so as to form wristlets extending to a greater or less extent upon the arm of the wearer or carrier, as desired, such variance being attained by cutting the fur between the sections a a a a to a greater or less depth.

In order to admit of the more effectual clamping of the ends a a a a, I prefer to round off thecorners of said sections, as shown at a a.

' After the skin has dried upon the blockingcylinder the pressure is released from the clamping-plates, the plates, rod, and parts constituting the blocking device withdrawn from the skin, and the latter is then stuffed, lined, and finished in the ordinary manner. Whereas in the manner heretofore practiced the blocking of six muffs in a day is an average production of workmen of average skill, it is within bounds to state that the operation can be performed in a better manner according to my method, and that five times the number stated above can be blocked in the length of time stated by any intelligent person after very brief practice. It should be stated also that where it is desired to have a muff that is in part cylindrical and in part a flat or plane surface, so as to admit of a pocket in connection therewith, such as shown in Fig. 8, it is only necessary to make the outer surface of one of the sections of the blockingcylinder flat or plane, asshown in said Fig. 8.

In the use of the muff, depending upon the state of the weather or upon the fancy of its user, the wristlets may be stuffed into the body of the muff, as desired, at any time.

Should it be desired to construct a muff according to my improved method but without wristlets upon it, the sections to be ctt from the skin between-a a a a will be correspondingly shallow in depth, and the sections a a a a can be clamped, as described, and will in such case furnish a fur finish to the ends of the muff.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patcnt 1. As an improvement in theart of making muffs having integral wrist portions extending beyond the muff-body, the method herein described,which consists in taking a muftskin in a single piece, cutting and stitching the ends thereof to form reduced portions thereat, and then stretching said reduced portions to set and shape them, substantially as set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, the improved muff herein described, having the end portions of the outer or wearing skin reduced to present integral wrist portions, substantially as set forth.

JACOB AXANDER SPITZER.

IVitnesses:

WALTER S. GIBSON, GnozB. COLLIER. 

